Parks and Recreation Master Plan

Last Content Update: Last month

The City of Brooksville is preparing its first strategic plan for the parks and recreation system in collaboration with Ayres, a planning design and engineering consultant.

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City of Brooksville Parks and Recreation Master Plan

This spring the City of Brooksville embarked on the preparation of a city-wide parks and recreation master plan. The City’s parks are a key part of what makes Brooksville such a desirable place to live; and as we grow, we need to strategic plan that will guide decision-making regarding provisions, operations, maintenance, and capital improvements over the next ten years.

The City aims to provide fair and just access to quality parks, programs, services, and experiences that energize visitors and create life-long users and advocates. In addition, the City endeavors to provide and promote safe, healthy, and enriching recreational and educational opportunities that promote stewardship of Brooksville’s natural and cultural heritage. To do this we want your input!

What’s been done so far?

The City has hired Ayres Associates to create the plan with the guidance of City staff, elected officials, civic leaders, and the community at large.

Phase 1 Report

Following discussions with the Council and staff, and engagements with the community, Ayres has completed the Phase 1: Parks Inventory, Existing Conditions Analysis, and Needs Assessment work and report.

Click here to see the Phase 1 Report.

Phase 2 Report

Based on the initial assessment and feedback from the City Council and the public at the stakeholder meetings and public meetings, the Ayres team completed the Phase 2: Park Planning and Design Ideation report. This report sets out the initial ideas for the systemwide improvements and specific improvements to the existing parks and suggested programs for the new proposed parks.

Click here to see the Phase 2 Report.

Public Engagement

1. City Council Workshop

The project team conducted extensive workshops with the City Council to discuss the vison, community aspirations and the outlook for the parks and reaeration in the city. The presentation and discussions at these meetings can be viewed by clicking on these links:

2. Stakeholder Meetings

Focused meetings were held on May 09, 10, and 12, 2023 with several parks and recreation providers as well as key partners to understand the opportunities and challenges related to the park system within the City.

3. Public Meetings

In person public meetings at various venues were held to gather feedback from a wide cross section of the community. Online surveys corresponding to these meetings were launched to get more in-depth feedback from the community and wider participation for those who could not come out to the meetings.

Public Meeting #1 : Ideas Gathering and Assessments on July 11^th at the Jerome Brown Center

Back-to-School Bash on August 11^th at Tom Varn Park
Public Meeting #2: Parks Improvement Ideas Feedback on October 5^th, 2023 at the Elks Lodge

The public engagement feedback and summaries are compiled and presented in the Phase 1 and Phase 2 reports.

What’s next?

Public Meeting #3/Non-traditional Engagement/Online Survey – November 4^th at the Togetherhood Block Party
City Council Workshop 3 – November 6th
Draft Master Plan – November 2023
Final Master Plan – December 2023

Ultimately, the City Council will adopt the Parks and Recreation Master Plan, and we hope that you will have had the opportunity to provide input on this important project.

For more information on the project, please browse the reports and presentations prepared for the project. These reports present the planning process and community input received on the project and plans.

Questions? Contact David Howard, Director of Parks and Recreation, Phone: 352-540-3832, Email: dhoward@cityofbrooksville.us